Birds of prey are bound to enrapture

24 Oct 2018

If country pursuits are your passion, you’d have to hunt high and low for an experience that beats time spent at the British School of Falconry.

Learning all about this ancient art in Perthshire’s spectacular surrounds – under the watchful eye of expert falconers – is an adventure that lingers long in the memory.

The School offers visitors an unforgettable introduction to the Sport of Kings and proprietors Emma and Steve Ford are welcoming, knowledgeable hosts.

Since relocating to the Gleneagles Hotel in 1992, the Fords have introduced people from all walks of life to a noble craft that began in China 4000 years ago.

To most novices, birds of prey are powerful, mysterious creatures. Yet within less than an hour, they can have one of these magnificent creatures eating out of their hand.

To most novices, birds of prey are powerful, mysterious creatures. Yet within less than an hour, they can have one of these magnificent creatures eating out of their hand.

Watching guests take part in an introductory session is an absorbing spectacle, and one that gives Steve and Emma a great deal of pleasure.

Picture the scene: novices carrying a hawk on a leather glove take a step forward and fling an arm to the sky and the hawk spreads her wings, catches the wind, and soars to the nearest perch.

A few moments later, the novice is instructed to raise an arm and the bird leaves its perch with wings wide and glides back to them.

Though she can dive-bomb her prey with enough force to kill it instantly, she lands lightly on the outstretched wrist and devours the morsel of beef that has been placed there.

These exercises – a key component of the introductory sessions – are a crucial part of a hawk's daily training regime, which helps to keep it in shape for hunting.

Each hawk wears a band, which signifies it has been bred in captivity; bells that help the falconer find them when hunting in the woods; and a radio transmitter, used a last resort should a bird fly astray.

At Gleneagles, they use Harris hawks – a species native to the US and Mexico – whose balanced temperament and propensity for teamwork makes them ideal for handling by strangers.

It is more than 30 years since wild hawks were used for sport in the British Isles and, if anything, that has strengthened the bond between falconer and raptor.

“Falconers need patience first and foremost. It's not an ego trip, walking around with a hawk on your arm,” says Steve.

“Falconers need patience first and foremost. It's not an ego trip, walking around with a hawk on your arm,”

“It's about working with the hawks and training them to the peak of fitness. If they succeed in killing their prey, then you've taken them to the supreme level of fitness and that's very rewarding.

“But the hawk’s welfare is paramount. If you lose the hawk then it must be able to look after itself in the wild, despite having grown up in an aviary being looked after by humans.”

At Gleneagles, professional falconers provide instruction for young and old alike, and tuition is tailored to suit every level of experience.

Introductory lessons explain basic falconry techniques and these skills can be developed further in sessions where guests can fly birds of prey at game, on sporting ground near Gleneagles.

Group lessons offer a private flying demonstration, which includes eagles, hawks and falcons, and an opportunity for guests to fly Harris hawks.

“Because Harris Hawks are a sociable breed,” says Steve, “guests become part of this gregarious hunting team which has access to 20,000 acres of sporting ground, hunting game birds in season and rabbits during the rest of the year.

“We're in a fantastic location surrounded by beautiful countryside, never more so in the late summer when the heather on the hillside turns purple.

“Whatever the season, we aim to make a visit to the School a memorable occasion.”

Steve believes the accessibility to the sport that Gleneagles offers is a real attraction for visitors. Those who take up the opportunity are in expert hands as the Fords' knowledge is unsurpassed.

It has been recognised by the UK Government, which permits the School to use the prefix 'British' as a mark of its status as the country’s pre-eminent falconry teaching centre.

The School also enjoys a world-wide reputation for the excellence of its certification courses and teaching methods and, in 1995, opened a branch at the Equinox Resort & Spa in Vermont, the first school of its kind in the US.

The Fords’ know-how means that they not only have the ear of legislators and conservation bodies in the UK, but are often in demand around the globe – particularly to the falconry strongholds of the US and the Middle East.

And their passion for hawks has led to them to work on the movie set of Blade Runner, and on location for music videos with Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield.

It has also opened the door for collaborations with the broadcaster Sir David Attenborough on his landmark television series Eagles and Life of Birds.

However, it is the day-to-day thrill of the chase that most enthuses Steve: “Each outing with a bird of prey is an adventure.

“You're a spectator of a naturally unfolding drama – the predator's vision, its speed, its whole thought process. It’s an absorbing experience and one I never tire of.”

You're a spectator of a naturally unfolding drama – the predator's vision, its speed, its whole thought process. It’s an absorbing experience and one I never tire of.

Steve, like Emma, developed a fascination with birds of prey in childhood, becoming hooked at the age of eight when a golden eagle escaped from London Zoo and went flying round neighbouring Regent's Park.

The story made national news and Steve, like many Britons, became obsessed with the eagle’s progress, igniting in him a passion for birds of prey.

Says Steve: “I’ve always been a keen ornithologist but birds of prey were my first love. I suppose falconry is really just an extreme version of bird watching.

“Emma and I have been very fortunate to be able to turn our passion into a business,” says Steve who, with Emma, also runs The Gundog School at Gleneagles.

“We love providing an experience for people who can’t take up falconry as a full-time sport because of its many demands.

“Handling a bird of prey is an intimate experience. It's rewarding to see the smiles on people's faces when they have such close contact with something so majestic and compelling.”